Lionel Messi pays tribute to Diogo Jota following striker’s demise in car accident

NEW DELHI: Argentina’s World Cup-winning legend Lionel Messi paid tribute to Liverpool striker Diogo Jota following his demise in a car accident.

Liverpool and Portugal forward Jota died in a car accident on Thursday in Spain at the age of 28. At the time of the accident, Jota was with his brother in the car, as reported by Sky Sports. Premier League and Liverpool Football Club took to their official social media and paid their condolences to the footballer.

Messi took to Instagram, posting a story saying, “QEPD”, short form for “que en paz descanse”, which translates to “Rest in Peace” in Spanish.

Jota began his football career in his hometown of Porto in Portugal, where he played for the Pacos de Ferreira academy before joining Atletico Madrid in the Spanish League in 2016. However, he never played for Atletico Madrid and later returned to Porto on loan. In 2018, the Portuguese player was signed by the Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, also known as Wolves, and for the next two years, he was under the fellow Portuguese manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

In September 2020, Jota was signed by another Premier League club, Liverpool. With the Reds, he won this season’s Premier League 2024-25 title. He was also part of the Liverpool squad that lost to Real Madrid 1-0 in the 2021/22 Champions League final, where he came on as a substitute. For Liverpool, the player featured in 26 games this season and scored six goals.

Jota made his debut for the Portugal national team in November 2019 and featured in the Euro 2022 and 2024 for his national side. However, he was not part of the squad during the FIFA World Cup 2022, as he was out injured. Recently, in May this year, Jota was part of the Portugal side which won the UEFA Nations League, defeating Spain in penalties and winning their second Nations League title. (ANI)